What do you think of the new plan to transform the Arcade into a mixed residential-retail property?

With the formal announcement last week of a $7 million plan to rehabilitate the historic Arcade building and turn it into a mixed-use complex of shops and “micro-loft” apartments, Evan Granoff becomes the latest developer to try and turn the 1828 landmark into a fully-used modern structure.

The plan calls for the first floor to include stores and restaurants, much as the most recent incarnation of the Arcade did.

However, the twist on this plan calls for the second- and third-story spaces, formerly small retail shops, to be turned into 220- to 270-square-foot furnished apartments, starting at $550 per month and targeted at recent college graduates and young professionals.

Comments

It beats the heck out of letting it sit vacant year after year. How do you rent that many small living spaces so close to each other without having a lot of tenant disputes? Hire a big burly House Mother to keep the peace? It could work. I give them credit for being creative! Pawtucket did something like this, but the spaces were all dedicated to artists studios. That seemed to work well.

I work in this neighborhood and say "bravo" to Granoff for finding a creative and logical use for the building. Those of us who work here will welcome the small eateries and other first floor shops, as well as the young professionals who will actually be able to afford living here.

Might be worth doing some 440-570sf apartments for $1100 - even at this double size,m the units will be extremely small by contemporary standards. Bravo for trying this out -has great potential, and could save this very special historic structure and the history it represents architecturally, commercially, and culturally.

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